Mrinal Asija, May 19
This week the University of Melbourne’s achievements in sport were recognised at the national UniSport Australia Awards, where its student-athletes and clubs won in three categories.
UniSport is the highest governing body for university sport in Australia. On 17 May, it awarded the top achievers for 2022 in 10 categories from universities across Australia at a Gala Dinner in Brisbane. The University of Melbourne came out on top in the Most Outstanding Performance by a Student-Athlete (Jemima Montag), Female Student-Athlete of the Year (Quennie Laurentia), and Club Leadership (The Melbourne University Women’s Football Club) categories.
Jemima Montag, racewalker and postgraduate student of medicine, had a year to remember. She started 2022 by setting two 10,000m personal best timings in January and then broke the 20km Walk Australian Record, which was held by Jane Saville for 18 years, by clocking 1:27:27. Montag also went on to win the 10,000m Walk national title and Oceania Championship title, before adding a second Commonwealth Games gold medal to her kitty, winning the 10,000m Race Walk title in Birmingham. She bagged the fourth position with an outstanding performance at the IAAF World Championships in Oregon, USA. It was only fitting that Montag was awarded the Most Outstanding Performance by a Student-Athlete honour at the UniSport Awards.
Montag is a member of the Melbourne University Athletics Club and is actively contributing to the sport and the society outside of the field as well. She is an International Olympic Committee Young Leader and runs the project Play On, an online resource to empower teenage girls in sport.
Badminton player and Bachelor of Arts student Quennie Laurentta collected the Female Student-Athlete of the Year trophy. Quennie helped the university’s badminton team win the Big Blue Varsity Challenge against Monash in May and Uni Nationals not only through her own outstanding performance, but also by providing coaching and encouragement to other team members.
The shuttler won 14 of her 15 matches across singles and doubles events at the Uni Nationals in Perth, remaining undefeated in singles. The performance also won her the Melbourne University Sport Intervarsity Female Athlete of the Year award.
The Melbourne University Women’s Football Club was the recipient of the Club Leadership Award. MUWFC was recognised not only for championing inclusion and diversity within the sport but also for its leadership and policy development in areas of mental health, alcohol, tobacco, drugs and safe transport.
During the Victorian Amatuer Football Association (VAFA) season, the club celebrated the Pride and First Nations rounds, donning specially designed jumpers. It organised discussions on trans and gender diverse inclusion in sport and raised $2,500 for Transgender Victoria. As part of its NAIDOC Week activities, MUWFC members participated in the Billibellary’s Walk to learn more about the history of the Wurundjeri people, on whose lands the Parkville campus is situated. For its leadership and inclusive governance, the club was named the Good Sports Club of the Year runners-up for Victoria and also awarded a Gold Certificate by the organisation, which is Australia’s largest community health sports program.